Etymologically
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bomba

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Pronunciation

Forms

bomba f (plural bombe)[1]

Etymology

It is a word of imitative origin, built on the sound sequence ⟨bomb⟩ that names a resonant noise, a hum or an explosion.[2][3][4] The same sequence is in from Latin bombus (“a buzzing, booming”), borrowed from Ancient Greek βόμβος (bómbos, “a hum, a boom”).[2][3][1][5] DELI thinks of a word suggested by bombo “buzzing” and bombarda “bombard”, and GRADIT calls the etymology uncertain.[2][6] Nocentini holds that the Italian word, though recent, continues the Latin one, and gives its first record in Latin documents from 1542; the LEI finds it impossible to decide between the Latin word and a spontaneous imitative root.[3][7] Prati too suggested, with a question mark, a derivation from the word for buzzing.[8]

The LEI calls the sense “explosive device” an Italian development that spread to all the languages of culture.[7] From Italian came French bombe, recorded from 1640, Spanish bomba, German Bombe and English bomb.[3][7][9][10] Italian also gave Turkish bomba.[1] Some uses come from English: the phrase for the atomic bomb copies atomic bomb (1945), and the sense “stimulant for athletes” follows English slang.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

DIFIT, following DEI, dates a bomba “bursting ball” to 1453.[9] Prati notes that the bomb proper was invented and used in Flanders in 1588, though similar devices are reported from the 15th century, and Migliorini dated the introduction of the word to 1588.[8][2] DELI's first record of bomba for an explosive device is Marino's Adone of 1623;[2][6][7] GRADIT and the LEI date the shell sense to Paolo Segneri, 1686.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Segneri compared a vengeful heart to a lit bomb (Un cuore vendicativo è a guisa d'una bomba accesa).[11] As weapons changed, the word named the hand grenade (bomba a mano, 1917), the time bomb (bomba a orologeria, 1921), the atomic bomb (1945) and the hydrogen bomb (1955).[2] Its figurative senses rest either on the explosion, notizia bomba “sensational news” (De Roberto, 1894), or on the round shape: a doughnut, a large round ice cream and a rice pie are all bombe.[2][6]

In Tuscany bomba is also a tall tale, a lie.[6][4] Colloquially a bomba is a person or thing of exceptional qualities, and in slang a mix of stimulants or a doping drug.[6][4] Science uses it for the cobalt bomb of radiotherapy, the volcanic bomb and the calorimetric bomb.[4][9] The derivative bombarolo, a Roman word for one who plants bombs in urban guerrilla warfare, is recorded from 1977.[2]

Timeline

  • 1453 – A bomba “bursting ball” is recorded.[9]
  • 1542 – Medieval Latin bomba is recorded.[3]
  • 1588 – The word is introduced with the new weapon, according to Migliorini.[2]
  • 1623 – Marino uses bomba in the Adone.[2]
  • 1640 – French bombe is first recorded.[9]
  • 1686 – Segneri uses it for an explosive shell.[6][7]
  • 1894 – De Roberto uses la bomba era scoppiata of a sensational piece of news.[2]
  • 1945 – Bomba atomica is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bomb, a hollow casing filled with explosive and fitted with a device that detonates it: Durante la guerra le bombe distrussero il ponte.[6][12][4]
  2. (figurative) A sensational piece of news or event; also as an invariable adjective, notizia bomba.[6][4]
  3. (regional, Tuscany) A tall tale, a lie.[6][4]
  4. (colloquial) A person or thing with exceptional qualities: Quella macchina è una bomba.[6]
  5. A stimulant taken to improve athletic performance; in slang, a mix of drugs or alcohol.[6][4]
  6. (cooking) A round doughnut filled with cream, a bombolone; also a large round ice cream or a baked rice pie.[6][4]
  7. In science and medicine, a device or object named for its shape or force: bomba al cobalto, bomba vulcanica, bomba calorimetrica.[4]

Word family

  • bombarolo
  • bombetta
  • bombola
  • bomboletta
  • bombolone

Usage notes

A second bomba, recorded before 1484, is the safe base in children's games such as hide-and-seek, which the players try to reach without being caught; it survives in tornare a bomba, “to get back to the point” after a digression.[6][12][11] DEI and DELI think this word may come from the bum! or bom! that the player cries on reaching the base.[13][2] A prova di bomba means “bombproof”, and figuratively “unshakeable”.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ a b c d e f Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 6, 827
  8. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 159
  9. ^ a b c d e Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 555